I can't believe I'm posting this, but: what said it best. Nobody's ragging on Riley's accomplishments -- that's silly -- but we're ragging on his press conference. Why do accomplishments elevate someone to Dear Heater status, available only for slavish praise? To some of us, he came off as a little petty, weird, and desperate. But I'll admit he knows what his players will respond to better than I know it. If Lebron responds to that rant, he is really closer in 12 mentally than I ever thought. I have respect for Lebron's maturity these days, and Riley's latest schtick would turn me the heck OFF if I were an adult player. But that's just me. The dude knows sports media too well to get mad at this point. He spent years in New York with ridiculous stuff being printed/broadcast every day. This presser was for his players, period. No they usually did not, and it was a *very* different era versus today's CBA. Me to, completely. But the way he delivered it seemed out of character, maybe a man-o-pausal moment. :grin:
The ring count is 7-0 in Riley's favor. Bird coached for a total of three seasons. Riley is one of the top four coaches of all time. And let's not forget that Mike Brown is a former COY and that Joe Dumars won EOY immediately before drafting Darko.
You think Cleveland has a boatload of talent. You also would rather have Kyrie and a unproven player over Harden and Dwight I guess.
It was highly ridiculous that ZR got suspended for game 7 after seeing the replay of what he did (not much). That did affect the series in a big way.
Thought this was worth bumping with the Lebron news. Part of Riley's schtick was early PR to make Lebron look weak if he leaves the Heat. None of it will be Riley's fault, because he's tough and was committed to retooling, and so on. I think Riley and Wade knew the opt-out was coming. Fascinating summer, no?
Lebron isn't weak. Wade is, that's what is scary (I would be to at that stage in my career). I can't see Wade having the balls to tell Riley he doesn't want to opt out.
Yes, we really think we have a shot at Lebron. So do writers, agents, athletes and sports broadcasters across the United States. Do we have the BEST shot? Probably not. Do we have a great situation to sell the man? Yes we do. Nobody knows Lebron's mind and what's most important to him except Lebron. He also isn't stupid. I think he and his agent are logically following the steps needed to insure maximum flexibility while he contemplates all offers. Then, he'll decide.
According to reports, Pat Riley's speech really pissed Lebron off. Makes total sense. It was extremely offensive, a spineless power play. How could you tell your star player that the only way you have guts is to do what the GM wants? If Howard wanted to leave when he's an FA, I would not say he doesn't have guts. Because what made him join the Rockets and what made Bron join the Heat is looking at the market and deciding if there's a better situation for his career. You can't fault them for repeating that again. Not to mention in Lebron's case - no guts? Are you kidding me? They were burning his jersey on the streets of Cleveland. Most fans hated him for a long time. People were rooting for his Heat to fail. He joined a team that belonged to Wade when he got there. No guts? By saying what he said, Riley essentially insinuated that Lebron had no guts when he left Cleveland - a team that had been to the finals with him. Incredible. I still think he might forgive Riley for it if it's the best situation for him, but it was really an idiotic thing to say.
I thought Riley used his mouthpiece and told the truth. Magic lost to boston 2 times,philly,detroit,and jordan. I don't hear anyone minimizing the wins and maximizing the losses. 5 titles in 12 yrs is incredible and his teams were far more talented with better coaching than what Lebron has. You can't just run to a so called more talented team because they lost. If it was all about the rings,he would stay in Miami or come to houston.
lol Lebron is not going to Cleveland. He will stay in Miami, shutup, and not ditch a guaranteed finals trip year after year.
The east is weaker than it ever has been, but that is an exaggeration. One man led Lebron bucks team can't beat the pacers or bulls. Maybe not even the raptors.
LeBron was always going back to Cleveland. It had nothing to do with Riley. If you read his letter on si.com - you would see that this isn't about basketball. Returning to Cleveland has absolutely nothing to do with basketball. This was LeBron's plan all along.
